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By Hitesh Basantani

Composer, Indian Classical Music

Miyan Tansen is considered as one of the greatest composer musicians in Indian classicalmusic. He was an extra ordinarily talented vocalist known even today for a number of greatcompositions. He lived during the time of the great Mughal Indian King Akbar and was one ofthe nine jewels of his court of rule.

Varieties of cultures have created barriers, opaque and so impermeable, that a human mind isalmost disconnected to most other minds. However, there is one subtle dimension that defies allother barriers created differences, penetrating t the mind it touches the soul, this is thebeautiful dimension of ‘Music”. Music is a language that every heart can comprehendirrespective of every perceptible difference. Music is the only universal language that soothesthe human spirit with remarkable uniformity. And while music nourishes the soul, but there arealas, few souls that nourish the music. Miyan Tansen was one such to Indian classical music,who ‘nourished’ and ‘enriched’ it.

It is difficult to create a picture of Tansen, because of the mammoth amount of mythssurrounding him. It is certainly known that he was born to a Hindu family, in a small village nearGwalior. His real name was Ramtanu Pandey; he was bestowed with the title Miyan by the greatking Akbar, which means an honorable man. He was disciplined by Swami Haridas, who was agreat composer singer of his time. He is said to have a played a great role in the translation ofmedium of singing from Sanskrit. Even though most of references to Miyan Tansen are foundwith respect to the Mughal king, Tansen’s name has also been found amongst the fans ofShuttari Tariqat a sufi spiritual lineage founded by Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus of Gwalior. Theburial of Tansen in his mausoleum indicates the conversion to the path of spiritual guide. As hewas also trained under Swami Haridas in the Bhakti tradition (a Hindu based spiritualinteraction). This led to a fusion style singing; a merger of Hindu and Muslim culture under onestyle of singing.

During the early part of his life Tansen was also influenced by other singers in the Gwalior court

7/26/2014 Miyan Tansen

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and also the musically proficient queen, Mriganayani, whose romance with king Akbar had beenforged on her singing;. Other musicians at Gwalior may have included Baiju Bawra Eventually,he joined the court of King Ramachandra Baghela of Rewa, where he remained from 1555-1562before the Mughal emperor heard of his talents and summoned him, and he then went toAkbar’s court in 1562. Legend also states that Akbar’s daughter Meherunissa was enamored byTansen and had a great role in his coming to the court as one of the nine prestigious people inthe entire kingdom. The presence of musicians like Tansen in Akbar's court has been related byhistorians to the theoretical position of making the empire's presence felt among thepopulation.

The fort at Fatehpur Sikri is strongly associated with Tansen's tenure at Akbar's court. Near theemperor's chambers, a pond was built with a small island in the middle, where musicalperformances were given. It is said that Tansen would perform during different times of the day,and the king and his court would sit around and honor him with gold coins. Tansen’s house isalso alleged to be in the neighborhood. Other legends tell of his ability to bring wild animals tolisten with attention (or to talk their language). Once, a wild white elephant was captured, but itwas fierce and could not be tamed. Finally, Tansen sang to the elephant that calmed down andthe emperor was able to ride him. Miyan Tansen is said to have become so famous with the Kingthat other court men started plotting against him. They asked him to recite the Deepak Raga(The word Deepak means light), which can set the singer on fire, shatter the glasses aroundhim. When Tansen did recite the Deepak raga, he shattered most of the glasses in the court, setthe lamps on fire and created so much heat that most of the flowers in the court dropped dead.Tansen himself fell feverishly ill for almost two months. This performance only helped raiseAkbar’s respect for Tansen, and came as a shock to the other members of Akbar’s court. Thedate of his death is largely controversial, some claim that he died shortly after his performanceof the Deepak Raga. Every year in December, an annual festival, the Tansen Samaroh, is held inGwalior to celebrate Tansen.

Bibliography

1. Maryam Juzer Kherulla. Profile: Tansen — the mesmerizing maestro, Dawn newspaper, 2002-10-12. Retrieved on 2007-10-02. 2. Ashok Davar (1987). Tansen - The Magical Musician. National Book Trust, India. This is well-written and well-illustrated children's book is a good source for the Tansen legend